


one day like this

by firebrands



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Avengers as background characters - Freeform, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 03:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20614145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firebrands/pseuds/firebrands
Summary: Marvel bingo cardfill for "fake dating" and also to a prompt Ferret left on the MCU discord: "fake dating au where the one who asks does it *expressly* because they have a huge crush and they want to show the other person how awesome it'd be to date them. Instead of being sad and pining the whole time, they spend the fake dating period (wedding or whatever) doing their damnest to get a real date out of it. Works either if the datee had never thought about them being more than friends until the fake date, or if they have been the one secretly pining, and the more the asker piles on the charm, the more depressed they get. Asker pov."





	one day like this

**Author's Note:**

> for ferret who gave this prompt, and omg-just-peachy and valhqlla who wanted fake dating when i posted my bingo card! thanks as well to patrali for the quick beta <3
> 
> title from one of my favorite elbow [songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJ7keVBj6Y)
> 
> yell about them w me on tumblr at [firebrands](https://firebrands.tumblr.com/) :)

The group chat is busy tonight, Tony notes with a wry grin. For some reason, everyone’s looking for ways to procrastinate, and the messages started flooding in as soon as Clint sent a video of a small dog falling down a few stairs. “Me, thinking i’m done with work,” he said.

Nat floods the chat with various stickers of cartoon characters in distress, Sam complains about the modules he has to go through, Bruce chimes in about the conference he doesn't want to attend, and then finally, Steve jumps in. 

**ughhhh i want to get dinner but i don't have time i miss u all**, he texts.

Tony’s eyebrows raise at the opportunity that has presented itself so neatly.

He taps on Steve’s name to send a message privately. 

**Hey, wanna work together tonight? Gotta crunch some numbers and I’d appreciate the company**

Steve responds quickly: **Pick me up from my office and it's a deal**

Tony smirks. This was almost too easy. **I’ll sweeten the pot and buy you dinner**, he texts.

He sets his phone aside and begins to pack up his things. His phone pings with Steve’s reply. 

**If ur feeling generous then why don't we invite clint and sam**

Tony groans. It was too easy, then. He bites his lip, and types out his response. He stares at the message for a second, takes a deep breath, then presses send.

**Nah, just wanna be with you**

He follows it up when he sees that Steve has read the message. **Be there in 20 mins**

**

Steve slides into the passenger seat, and Tony’s heart flutters when he Steve turns to him with a smile.

“It’s been a while,” he says.

“Yeah,” Tony says, trying his best not to sound too dreamy. “Two weeks, right?”

“Has it already been that long?” Steve buckles his seatbelt. “I’ve been really busy with work.”

“Me too,” Tony begins to drive, then realizes he doesn’t have a destination in mind. “Where do you wanna go?”

Steve shrugs. “Anywhere with a charging port?”

“How about that place with the ice cream you liked?” Tony hedges.

“Oh god, yes please,” Steve groans, “What’s it called again? I never got to go back because I forgot the name.”

“You would.”

Steve scoffs. Tony has never wanted to lean over and kiss him more, but he doesn’t. Not yet.

**

“So you remember Pepper, my friend?” Tony asks after polishes off the pasta from his plate. 

“Yeah, ‘course I remember Pepper,” Steve says, eyes still on his food, then he looks up as he takes the last bite of his burger. “Why?”

“Well, she’s getting married next month and well,” Tony starts, waving his hand around breezily. “She reserved two seats for me because she thought—well. Anyway. She reserved two seats for me and I really don’t want to tell her to cut it down to one, because I’m sure she’s already finalized her table arrangements and I don’t want to bother her with—so, the point is,” Tony exhales quickly, and flashes Steve his most charming smile. “Do you want to come with me?”

“What, like your date?” Steve asks, frowning as he wipes his hands on a napkin.

“Yeah, exactly like that.”

“Me?” Steve asks.

“Yeah, you.” Tony furrows his brow when he notices Steve is slowly, methodically, tearing his napkin to shreds. “Who else am I talking to?”

“Why me?” Steve asks, looking a bit helpless.

“Why not?” Tony asks, nonplussed.

“That’s not a fair response, Tony,” Steve chides.

“Do you not want to go?” Tony licks his lips nervously. “It’s okay, I can ask someone else, or something, it’s fine”

Steve opens his mouth to respond, but snaps it shut when a waitress arrives with his dessert. The silence stretches on and Steve shoves a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

Tony balls his hand into a fist to stop himself from wiping at the small smear on the side of Steve’s lip, and digs his fingernails even deeper into his palm as he watches Steve’s tongue poke out of his mouth to lick it off.

“I just…” Steve pauses, then tries to nonchalantly hide all of his ripped up tissues under a napkin. “I don’t know, you don’t think it’s gonna be weird?”

“Why would it be weird? I’m a swell date.” Tony gestures to their empty plates, the ice cream melting in Steve’s cup. “See? I treat you right.”

Steve frowns again. “This is a date?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be, babe,” Tony winks. He’s laying it on pretty thick, sure, but that just means he can brush it off as a joke if Steve gets pissed. God, he hopes Steve doesn’t get pissed. 

“Tony, you’re scaring me. You have that face on,” Steve says hesitantly.

“What face?” Tony snaps out of his thoughts, smiles his most captivating smile. “My face is fine.”

“Your weird… pinched in face.” Steve waves around a spoon as if wiping his words away. “Nevermind.”

“So?” Tony wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Date me?”

Steve laughs, and Tony almost doubles over in relief. 

“Fine.”

“Fine? God, I was hoping for some excitement! We get to dress up, eat great food—Pep’s got great taste in food, let me tell you—and you get the best date this side of the Hudson.”

Steve rolls his eyes affectionately. “You forget that I only have one suit, so you’ll have to deal with my award outfit.”

Tony throws his head back and groans with exasperation. “That thing? Does not highlight your assets.” Tony looks back and gazes at Steve appraisingly. “I’m thinking… blue.”

Steve’s eyebrow is quirked up, unimpressed.

“Because of your eyes,” Tony says, gesturing to Steve’s face. 

“Groundbreaking,” Steve deadpans.

“Hey, I’m not the artist here, you are. All I'm saying is that now that you’re my date it’s only right that you dress the part. And I'd be remiss if I didn't help style my date, right?”

Steve rolls his eyes again, shakes his head as he bites down a smile. “Is it too late to take it back?”

“Of course it is.” 

“Should’ve known you had an ulterior motive for asking me to work together,” Steve sighs dramatically.

Tony pouts. “I thought you said you missed me.”

“I did,” Steve agrees, smiling as he eats another spoonful of ice cream. “And now, somehow, I’m your date to Pepper’s wedding.”

“I know!” Tony grins giddily. “Aren’t you excited? I’m excited.”

“Of course you are,” Steve laughs. “Are we going to make up a story about how I ended up your date?”

“Do you _ want _to? I thought that would be too much.”

Steve looks up from his ice cream. “Too much?” He asks, “so you know the meaning, then?”

“Ass.”

Steve grins devilishly. 

“I was thinking of just saying, you know. We kinda finally realized we’d be good together,” Tony says, and he’s being so honest that it hurts a little.

Steve’s grin falters for a second and Tony worries if he’s said something wrong, but Steve laughs it off. “That’s boring. We could come up with something about how we started dating, it’d be funny, right?”

“Yeah,” Tony says, smiling tightly. “Funny.”

They smile at each other for a second and Tony wishes he could just come out and ask Steve what he was thinking, but things don’t work that way. 

“How about,” Steve starts, tapping his nose as he thinks. It’s an adorable tic, and Tony relaxes a little has he takes in how Steve looks in the soft yellow light of the cafe.

“I have an idea!” Tony says, all of the sudden. “Let’s just keep making things up. Keep each other on our toes.”

Steve laughs. “That sounds so dumb,” he says. “Let’s do it.”

**

Steve’s jaw literally drops when he turns to look at himself in the mirror.

Tony, standing behind him, is looking equally guppy-faced in the mirror.

“Steve,” Tony says reverently, letting his eyes sweep over Steve’s new blue velvet jacket and black pants. “You look amazing.”

Steve lets out a shocked huff of laughter. “Yeah, I do, don’t I,” he says.

Tony gently lays his hand on the small of Steve’s back, taking the opportunity to look at him closer, then from different angles.

“You have outdone yourself, Luis,” Tony says to his tailor, who puffs his chest up in pride. 

“Of course I did, Tony. Can’t have you going on a date with someone who isn’t dressed equally sharp, huh?” Luis winks

Tony chuckles, then turns to Steve. “You like it, right?”

“I do,” Steve says, still looking at himself in the reflection. “Not so sure about my bank account liking it though.”

“I told you, I got this,” Tony says, patting Steve’s shoulder.

“I really can’t accept—I have the money, Tony.”

“I know. I didn’t say you didn’t. What I am saying is that this is part of the dating Tony experience. Wining, dining, suiting….” Tony pauses, then winks at Steve when he adds, “un-suiting.”

Steve _ giggles_. “You’re wild.”

“Absolutely feral, my dear,” Tony says. He stops himself just in time from pressing a kiss to Steve’s cheek. 

Luis tells them that he’ll finish up the stitching and have it sent over to Tony’s apartment when it’s done.

“Why not to mine?” Steve asks.

“Because we’ll be coming from my place?”

Steve is quiet for a moment before he asks, “Why?”

“Because we’ll take my car…?” Tony bites his lip.

“Wait. Where is the wedding?”

Tony balks. “Hudson Valley?”

“What?!” Steve screeches.

“I thought I told you—” Tony starts, hands raised in a placating motion. 

“You did not,” Steve begins to fret, wringing his hands as he does. “All you said was a wedding next month, oh my god. I need to file a leave.”

“Sure, yeah,” Tony nods. “It’s on a Saturday though, and we have a room booked just for Saturday night.”

Steve relaxes, and the jacket highlighting how broad his shoulders are. The suit really does accentuate all of his best features. Which, Tony thinks, is all of them, but that’s neither here nor there right now.

“Oh.” Steve says. “What else do I need to know?”

Tony laughs. “I don’t know. I’ll look for the invitation and send you a picture. But it’s—whatever, I got you, okay? Don’t worry about it.”

Steve gives Tony a disapproving look and sets his arms akimbo. “When it’s you, Tony, I always worry.”

“That hurts,” Tony pouts and clutches his chest. “That’s hurtful.” 

“I’m only saying it because you haven’t proven me wrong,” Steve says with a smirk, and god, it takes every ounce of self-control for Tony not to get on his knees in front of Steve, standing like that and looking god-like. He always was weak for a big man in a suit.

“Fair,” Tony says, instead, and turns to leave so Steve can get undressed.

**

Tony adjusts his tie in the mirror and behind him, Steve is bent over tying his shoelaces. Tony spends a few more moments preening, and stops only when he sees in the reflection that Steve is fumbling with his cuffs.

“Let me,” Tony says, closing the short distance between them and batting away Steve’s hand as he deftly inserts the cufflink and locks it. He gestures for Steve’s other wrist, and Tony can feel Steve gaze on his hand as he tightens the cuff. “There,” Tony says, softly. “Need help with your bow tie?”

Steve’s frown deepens. “Is it that obvious?”

Tony smiles fondly at him. “No, but I’ve never seen you in a bow tie, either.”

Steve lifts his chin obediently as Tony takes the two ends of the bow tie in his hands. This close, he can see how clean Steve’s shave is, can see how his adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Steve says a bit breathlessly.

Tony looks up at Steve questioningly, and bites back a smile when he sees the blush on Steve’s cheeks. He never figured Steve to be the one to blush when embarrassed.

This close, it would be so easy to pull Steve in, close the gap between them. But he holds off; they still have a whole evening together and a shared bed to boot. (Pepper had taken him seriously when Tony said he had a date, and she didn’t know how much she was helping Tony’s cause when she got them a room with queen-sized bed. Steve had laughed when he’d seen it, and made an offhand comment about how it was all par for the course, being Tony’s date and all.)

“All done,” Tony says, smoothing down the lapels of Steve’s jacket and giving him a once over. “You look devastatingly handsome.”

Steve’s cheeks brighten even more. “Thanks, Tony,” he says bashfully. “You look great, too,” he adds, after a moment.

Tony beams. “All for you, Steve,” he says, and he means it.

**

Tony spends most of the beginning of the reception program sneaking glances at Steve, startling only when he and Steve’s eyes meet as he was furtively checking him out again.

“This is fun, right?” Tony recovers quickly. 

“Super!” Steve says brightly. 

Tony only stops looking at Steve when Pepper finally makes her way to them, changed out of her wedding dress into an equally beautiful but much more sensible white gown. 

“God, Pep, if I knew you cleaned up this well I would’ve just married you myself,” Tony says, standing to press a kiss to Pepper’s cheek. “Congratulations, by the way,” he adds, then pulls her into a tight hug.

“I know,” Pepper says, pulling away and adjusting Tony’s pocket square. “That’s why I never cleaned up for you,” she teases.

Tony pouts, then remembers Steve when Pepper raises her eyebrows and looks at Steve pointedly.

“This is Steve!” Tony says, taking Steve by the arm and pulling him close. “He’s my date.”

“Congratulations!” Steve says, before kissing Pepper on the cheek.

“Thank you! I’m so glad to finally meet you,” Pepper says. “I have heard so much about you.”

Steve blushes, and Tony has to give him points; blushing on purpose was a skill even he hadn’t mastered. The ‘aw shucks,’ look sells it even more.

“Really?” He says, sounding strangely disbelieving, as if he’d never thought Tony would talk about him, which is dumb, in Tony’s opinion. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” Steve adds quickly.

“Good,” Pepper says loftily. 

Steve laughs.

“When did you start dating?”

Tony opens his mouth to respond but Steve is quicker: “Oh a few months ago. Tony took me out to dinner and held my hand as he walked me home.”

“He _ walked_?” Pepper asks, skeptical.

“I know.” Steve says, turning to smile at Tony fondly. He was really, really selling this in-love shtick, and Tony feels hope swell traitorously in his sternum. “That’s how I knew he was serious about me,” Steve says fondly, and then, in an inspired move, he takes Tony’s hand in his.

Tony is going to buy him a cake, after all this. That is, if he doesn’t get Steve to go out with him on an actual date. But those plans are for later.

“I hate you both and I regret this already,” Tony says faux haughtily, but keeps Steve’s hand in his.

**

“We were in a mountain climbing group and we shared a tent together,” Steve says to Pepper’s cousin.

“We fought over the last bagel in the cafe,” Tony tells Pepper’s other cousin.

“I bumped his car while I was backing out of a gas station.”

“I bought him sunflowers and it turns out he was allergic to them.”

"We were in the library and we were looking for the same book."

“Oh, Steve was Creative Director for the agency that did one of our campaigns,” Tony says to Nick, Pepper’s boss. “He was really brilliant, he had such great ideas, and I really liked working with him. So one day I asked him out to coffee.”

“Wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?” Nick asks. “Since you were paying him?”

“By then the campaign was done and Steve wasn’t part of meetings anymore,” Tony says airily. “You really should see his work, Nick. He’s an amazing artist.”

Steve and Nick exchange numbers, and Steve steers Tony to the refreshment table by his elbow.

“You sounded really convincing,” Steve says, surprised. “I didn’t know you knew that much about my work.”

Tony shrugs and picks up an hors d'oeuvres. He scrutinizes the oyster so he doesn’t have to look at Steve when he says, “I pay attention, Steve.”

Steve pops a canapé into his mouth and then downs a glass of champagne. “That’s nice!” he says, and then wanders further down the table to eat more food.

**

Steve looks up at the speakers when a song begins to play. A soft smile blooms on his face and he says, “I love this song.”

“Dance with me, then,” Tony says, offering Steve his hand. He half expects Steve to decline, and feels his heart begin to sink when Steve merely looks at Tony’s hand.

The party is going through a slowdown, the DJ playing sweet, old people music. Of course this is the kind of music that Steve wants to dance to. If he does want to, that is. Tony’s about to laugh off his offer to save face when Steve takes his hand.

They join the few older guests on the dance floor and fumble a little to see who’ll lead. Of course, Tony wins, and he settles his hand into the curve of Steve’s spine, takes Steve’s hand in his. They sway slowly to the music, and Tony lets his eyes drift shut, enjoying Steve’s presence, the easy movements of the dance, being able to breathe the same are as him.

The song ends, and Tony blinks when he sees the small frown on Steve’s lips.

“You all right?” he asks, as they walk back to their seats.

Steve startles at the question. “Yeah,” he says, nodding effusively. “I guess champagne makes me a bit maudlin,” he adds, with a self-deprecating laugh.

“What’s there to be maudlin about?”

“Nothing,” Steve says blithely. “It’s nothing.”

Tony frowns. “We can skip out early if you want, okay?” 

“No, no,” Steve says. “Let’s stay. This is fun.”

“You just said you were getting maudlin.”

“So I’ll switch to whiskey,” Steve says easily. 

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Free drinks!” Steve stands up and buttons his jacket. He turns to Tony with a smile. “Celebrating love! Come on, let’s get drinks.”

“Okay, okay,” Tony acquiesces, and follows Steve to the bar.

**

It’s almost three in the morning when they stumble up the stairs of the old, Dutch Colonial stone mansion. They’re not drunk, not really; Tony stopped himself as soon as he felt the heady flush of tipsiness. He doesn’t trust himself to be drunk around Steve, especially since they were sharing a bed.

Neither of them bother to turn on the light, the full moon casting a glow about the room. Tony both loves and hates how romantic it is.

They both undress quickly, eager to get some rest. Out of everything tonight, this is familiar territory, both of them used to sleeping next to each other whenever nights out with the group got too rowdy and taxis were hard to come by. 

Tony brushes his teeth and watches Steve in the reflection of the mirror, only averting his gaze when Steve unbuckles his belt. He spits out the foam, then flops face down onto the bed wearing only his boxer-briefs. He listens as Steve putters about the room, brushes his teeth, then finally settles down beside him with a pleased sigh.

“Good night,” Steve says. Tony hums in response, then shifts so his back is to Steve. He shuts his eyes and listens to Steve breaths even out and the bed shift with Steve’s weight.

Tony turns again, and startles when finds Steve facing him, looking equally caught in the act. 

“Hey,” Tony whispers. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve smiles, but it looks tentative, so he isn’t.

“You sure?” Tony prods.

“Yeah,” Steve says, then turns to face the ceiling. Tony doesn’t miss the small sigh that escapes Steve’s lips.

Tony wants to touch Steve so badly, even if only to comfort him through whatever is causing this sudden sadness. But he doesn’t want to cross a line. Not that he hasn’t been crossing lines all night, trying to get Steve to see how good he’d be, how good they were together. So maybe he wasn’t scared to ask Steve to pretend to be his date tonight, but there are still a few things that do scare Tony, and he’s done being brave for the day.

**

Steve is standing by the sink when Tony wakes up. Tony yawns, stretches out his back, then ambles over to Steve. They brush their teeth in silence, then Tony playfully jostles with Steve over sink space.

“Stop it!” Steve snaps.

Tony throws his hands up and takes a step back. “Okay, wow, go shower first then.”

Steve sighs, runs a hand through his hair nervously. “No, it’s not that. I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay,” Tony says, and leaves the bathroom. He takes a seat on the bed and goes through his memories of the evening, trying to figure out where he could’ve done something wrong.

Then, Steve throws open the door of the bathroom and says, “I had a really good time last night, Tony.” His eyes are wide and he’s blinking like he’s shocked at himself.

“Yeah, me too,” Tony says, confused. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, sighing. “I just had a really good time.”

Tony smiles. “I told you I’d show you a good time, right?”

Steve nods to himself, chews on his lip as he thinks. He opens his mouth to say something, closes it, then goes back inside the bathroom. 

Tony stares at the door, confused, worried, and wondering what he can do—what _ else _ he can do—to get Steve to finally fucking go out with him.

The rest of the morning passes without incident, breakfast and coffee and mingling with the other guests who spent the night. 

They’re packing their bags when Steve turns to Tony and says, “Tony, I think I need to stop hanging out with you for a while.”

“What? Why?” Tony sputters, and he’s scared of the answer.

Steve sinks down onto the bed, rests his head in his hands. “I—god, Tony, why’d you have to—” he pauses again, takes a breath. “I don’t think we can hang out for a while, at least until I’m over it.”

“Over what?” Tony asks, sitting down beside Steve and putting his hand on Steve’s knee. “What are you talking about?”

Steve stares at him through his fingers, then he shuts his eyes tight.

“I haven’t been really honest with you,” he says. 

“Okay,” Tony says, reassuringly. 

“It’s just that,” Steve pauses again, and takes a deep breath. He lowers his hands from his face and looks Tony in the eye. “It’s just that I’m I love you, okay? And I know that this was just supposed to be a fun thing but it’s—“

Tony blanches. “Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there,” he says. 

“Okay,” Steve says, looking chastened.

“No, no,” Tony shifts closer to Steve slowly, like he would a scared animal. He fights down the instinct to jump for joy, worried by the tremulous look on Steve's face. “Steve, oh god. I love you too. You hear me? I love you. I’ve been trying to ask you out to an actual date for the longest time and I thought you just wanted to stay friends so you were humoring me—“

“You MEANT IT?” Steve almost shouts, and jumps up from the bed as if burned. “All those times?”

“Why would I be joking?” Tony asks incredulously.

“Because you’re—“ Steve waves his hands around in a helpless gesture. “You’re you! And I’m just! I’m me!”

“Exactly! You!” Tony pauses. “Why are we shouting?” He asks, tone significantly softer.

“Because!” Steve continues, half-hysterical. “You’re Tony!”

“What does that even mean?!” 

“You’re my friend and I never thought you’d like me and you flirt with everyone and ask everyone out and get them dinner—“ Steve says all in one breath.

“No, I don’t,” Tony says, faltering.

“But you do! You do that!” Steve insists. He’s pacing around the room, now, which should be comical given that he has to turn every three steps, but it just makes Tony feel nervous.

Tony takes a deep breath, then stands and takes Steve by the shoulders. “Steve,” he says, trying to keep his voice steady. “I love you.”

Steve blinks. “You what?”

“I love you,” Tony says again, pulling Steve in close, nose to nose. “I love you, Steve Rogers.”

Steve laughs. “Oh my god,” he says shakily. “You mean it.”

“I do.”

“I love you,” Steve says, eyes wide. “And you—you love me.”

“Yes,” Tony says. 

Steve nods.

“Can I kiss you now?” Tony asks.

“Yes, please,” Steve breathes out.

Tony takes Steve’s chin in his hand and pulls him in—he smiles a little as he hears Steve’s quick intake of breath, right before their lips meet. It’s soft and chaste and tentative and absolutely _ wonderful _.

“See? I told you,” Tony says as he pulls away, smiling as he thumbs Steve’s cheek. “Nothing to worry about, Steve. I got you.”

Steve laughs against Tony’s mouth. “Shut up and kiss me again already, Tony.”

“Yeah, okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [tumblr](https://firebrands.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/firebrandss)!


End file.
